Winter League news and up to date positions

Published:08:00Monday 27 January 2014

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Senior member Ian Smith jumped up the Winter League singles leaderboard at the weekend when a round of 37 Stableford points improved his ten-round score by 11 points, moving him from eighth place to third.

The two leaders, Steve McGhie (374 points) and Jim Lonie (365), held on to the top spots without improving their overall score. Graeme Docherty recorded his tenth score of the winter -- a solid 37 points -- and he moved into the reckoning in fifth place with 356 points.

Another low handicapper, Chris Taylor, was in fine form with 38 points and that improved his total to 358, good enough for fourth place. Doug Barnard’s round of 36 points kept him in close pursuit on 355 points, with Bob Smith on 352 and Adam Smith on 323 making up the eight qualifying places.

However, expect many changes in the next couple of weeks as a number of other players remain well in contention with seven rounds to go before the final play-off weekend on March 15 and 16.

In the scratch doubles: Kevin Riddell and Ross McAllan, with a round of 65, moved into third qualifying spot with a ten-round total of 655, three shots better than Colin Arthur and Alan Officer, who hold fourth place.

Leaders Neil Irvine and Harry Roulston and Barry McGillivray and Stuart Dempster, both consolidated their positions, with rounds of 62 and 64 respectively, making their totals 629 and 633, moves can be expected in the next few weeks to apply pressure to the third and fourth positions from the pairings of Adamson and Melvin, Lawson and Allsop and Pittendreigh and Graeme Adamson.

In the handicap doubles the competition is proving particularly fierce, with at least six couples battling for the four qualifying places. Kenny Duncan and Ian Wood lead with a net total of 593, four ahead of Michael Halliday and Stuart Campbell.

David Callaghan and David Summers, who did not play at the weekend, sit one shot back on 598, with Bob Leggate and Malcolm MacEwen in fourth spot on 600, thanks to a net 61 on Saturday. Another 61 from Craig Mackay and Jim Hepburn gave them fifth place on 605, with Alistair Barnett and Tom Simpson, thanks to the best-net-of-the-day 59, just one shot back on 606.